Basketball Recap: Lennard Comes Up Short

If Lennard was feeling good fresh off their 66-26 takedown of Robinson last Tuesday, their most recent game may have dampened their spirits a bit. The Lennard Longhorns took a 70-63 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Steinbrenner Warriors on Thursday. The result was an unpleasant reminder to the Longhorns of the 58-51 defeat they experienced in the pair's previous head-to-head fixture back in January of 2023.

When it comes to explaining why Lennard lost, don't look at Devin Freeman. Despite the final result, he went 5 for 12 en route to 17 points in addition to seven boards and six assists. With that strong performance, Freeman is now averaging an impressive 2 steals per game. Another player making a difference was Makai Hills, who posted nine points and eight rebounds.

Even though they lost, Lennard smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 12 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least ten offensive rebounds in 14 consecutive matchups.

Riley Aulls was nothing short of spectacular for Steinbrenner: he went 6 of 15 on his way to 15 points along with seven assists and seven boards. Those seven rebounds gave Aulls a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Aiden Thomas, who went 6 for 7 en route to 12 points and seven boards.

Lennard's loss was their sixth straight on the road, which dropped their record down to 10-12. As for Steinbrenner, their victory ended a three-game drought at home and bumped them up to 7-18.

The two teams are set to take part in some playoff action in their next matches. Lennard will square off against Palm Harbor University at 6:30 p.m. on Monday. Lennard knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with 55 points or more in their past three contests -- so hopefully Palm Harbor University likes a good challenge. As for Steinbrenner, they will challenge Hollins at 7:00 p.m. on Monday. Hollins has been getting the ball to fall more lately as they've increased their point totals each of their last three games.